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Tasting Report: 2009 California Cabernet Barrel Samples

May 17, 2010

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The first previews of California’s 2009 cabernet sauvignon vintage were held last week, and in the battle of man vs. wine, man won. Below you’ll find notes and early ratings on 71 wines, mostly barrel samples from the upcoming ’09 vintage.

Overall, I found these wines to be restrained, with a similar consistency, herbal, rich and quite tannic, with not a lot of fruit to go around. Still, exceptions were to be found, some big and jammy fruit bombs trying to really pump up the berry character through any means necessary.

Some clear favorites stood out, including the wonderfully balanced Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill bottling, and Sojourn’s quirky 2009, which offers a panoply of flavors you rarely find all in one place. Also keep an eye out for newcomer Mario Bazan and boutique winemaker Hendry Ranch.

Specific bottlings were, in many cases, not indicated, so some of the wines below could represent single-vineyard or reserve releases when they ultimately hit the shelves.

4 Comments

Thanks for posting about your experience at the California Cabernet Society event. I’m glad to have found you via Google, and look forward to staying in touch via Facebook and our video blog. (Already liked DRINKHACKER a few weeks ago.) Please let me know what you think of our videography. We will be posting a video about the CCS event within the next couple weeks; we volunteered our services there and you’d be welcome to embed it into your blog if you wish.